UCLA puts its troubles behind as it faces Stanford in Pac-12 football final

STANFORD - After being soundly beaten by Stanford last Saturday, UCLA is already back up for round two.

Surely, the Bruins must have changed up their routine, particularly with a short week of practice and a Rose Bowl on the line?

Nay, UCLA head coach Jim Mora said. With a rematch in the Pac-12 championship looming at 5 p.m. today, everything in his team's schedule simply moved up - even the mourning period.

All season long, the Bruins have stuck to the philosophy of giving themselves 24 hours to either celebrate a win or lament a loss. After losing 35-17 to the Cardinal, they contracted that time frame to roughly five hours - a midnight deadline.

"Emotionally, we needed to let go of it and move on," Mora said.

The Stanford-UCLA redux is a remarkably rare occurrence in college football, one set into motion this year in part by the quirks of Pac-12 scheduling. With the USC-UCLA rivalry match bumped from its usual spot as the regular-season finale, the possibility opened that the Cardinal and the Bruins would play two weeks in a row.

Nearly every player and both head coaches are sticking to the same talking point: The d j vu gives neither side an advantage. Mora is tasked with making sure his players rebound quickly; Stanford coach David Shaw must ensure his don't falter into complacency. For every hole a team identifies in its opponent's previous game film, a flaw of its own could be picked out.

As far how well Stanford's defense held UCLA's formerly explosive attack in check? Shaw isn't counting that as indicative of the game to come.

"It's gonna be tough," Shaw said. "They were on a clip where they won five straight. That team didn't go away. They didn't disappear last week. They missed some things. They had some chances that went our way."

How about the thought the Bruins (9-3, 6-3 Pac-12) might have scaled back some of their playbook?

"They were completely in character," Shaw said.

The abbreviated time frame doesn't alter mental preparation much either.

"It's good that it's a short week," Mora said. "If we were playing the same team on a long week, it would be a little more difficult to stay locked in and focused because they're anxious to play again."

At this point, neither team is at full health. UCLA's biggest absence is junior tailback and kick returner Damien Thigpen, who tore his ACL two weeks ago against USC. In addition, several players - such as receiver Steve Manfro (ankle) and offensive lineman Simon Goines (knee) - have battled bumps and bruises.

"We've got a couple of guys that are nicked up," Mora said. "This game is pretty darn important. There's not a whole lot that's gonna keep them off the field."

The Cardinal (10-2, 8-1) are missing starting punter Daniel Zychlinski, whose shoulder was injured by linebacker Anthony Barr on a forced fumble last week. In a game that could end up being played in sloppy conditions, every roll could make a difference.

In Zychlinski's place is junior Ben Rhyne, who has punted just three times this year. Shaw emphasized that Rhyne had looked good in practice, and the team shouldn't experience any falloff.